4. The Eerie System Notification

Jin Youde blinked, studying Chen Ling carefully. No matter how he looked, Chen Ling was just an ordinary university student. After a moment of thought, he spoke earnestly, “Young man, I won't boast. I can't speak for larger sums, but handling over a hundred thousand a day is well within my reach.” As he spoke, he pulled something from his pocket and placed it on the counter—a Mercedes car key.

Hearing this, Chen Ling immediately took note. As far as he knew, supermarkets generally only recycled vouchers as a side business, selling them to Card Bull if they had any, or just letting it go if they didn’t. But from Jin Youde’s attitude…

“Boss Jin, you’re hiding some real depths!” Chen Ling asked, “You’re not just running a supermarket, are you?”

“Fair enough,” Jin Youde didn’t hide it. “I also have a card room and a foot massage parlor, both on this street.”

Chen Ling was genuinely surprised. Who would have thought the supermarket owner at the school gate would have such a range of businesses?

Now that the other party had revealed his true strength, Chen Ling knew he had to show some sincerity as well. So he said straightforwardly, “A minimum of a hundred cards a day, but that’s a conservative estimate—it could be several hundred, even a thousand. Supermarket cards, all with a value of two hundred each.”

“A thousand cards? That’s at most about two hundred thousand a day.” Jin Youde pondered for a moment. “That is quite a volume, but since it’s not my own business, I can’t make the final decision. Wait here a moment.” With that, he picked up the phone, turned away, and made a call, explaining the situation briefly. After hanging up, he turned to Chen Ling. “One price: ninety-six percent of face value! That’s the highest I can offer. If that’s not enough, you’ll have to look elsewhere.”

“Deal,” Chen Ling smiled, handing him another cigarette. “Then I won’t look anywhere else. Everything I get goes to you.”

“Good,” Jin Youde smiled as well, lighting his cigarette and watching Chen Ling leave. Then he picked up the phone again…

Leaving the supermarket, Chen Ling deliberately walked a bit further and indeed found a “Gathering Friends Card Room” and a “Deshang Foot Massage.” He even wandered inside for a look and saw that the business licenses on the wall were indeed in Jin Youde’s name.

It was clear Jin Youde wasn’t boasting—he had real skills. With the sales channel now secured, only the issues of order-taking and production remained. The key to production was that, to scale up, he’d need to take orders at school or by computer, and have someone camp at the business hall. The exchange of information, plus the time needed to top up phone credit…

All told, he could probably only handle a few hundred a day, and that was assuming the staff at the business hall did nothing but serve him.

It didn’t seem very realistic. Clearly, he’d have to find a new approach!

As Chen Ling pondered, he walked towards the business hall on Education Road. Before long, he could see it in the distance. Because the surrounding area was filled with schools and a large student population, this business hall handled not only regular business but also outreach marketing, such as sponsoring school competitions and clubs, or back-to-school promotions. As such, several departments were stationed there, making it the flagship office of the Binhu District.

The place was huge—three full floors, each with over a thousand square meters. From afar, a giant logo hung on the building’s exterior, giving it an imposing presence.

As he drew nearer, through the glass windows he could see plenty of customers inside, most of them students—some getting new SIM cards, some handling other business, some shopping for phones. The place was lively and bustling.

Chen Ling strolled in. The phone salespeople were all busy, so no one bothered him, which was just as well—he could observe freely. He first confirmed that the “recharge 200, get a 200 supermarket card” promotion was indeed running—a poster on the wall said as much, and the event lasted until the end of the month. One crucial point: the promotion was only for university student numbers.

This disappointed Chen Ling—there were several high schools nearby, but for them, the offer was worthless.

Looking around, he counted eight service windows: five for comprehensive business, three temporary ones. Because the “recharge 200, get 200” deal was so attractive, all three temporary windows were open, and many students were lined up with cash, waiting to recharge.

Watching them, Chen Ling felt a pang in his heart—all potential customers lost with every student who recharged. A real loss!

Faced with this, Chen Ling also felt a bit uneasy. Clearly, the staff here couldn’t be his personal recharge team.

What to do?

Just as he was racking his brains, a sudden “ding” sounded in his mind, snapping him to attention.

But then—nothing. The system gave no further hints.

“What the heck?” Chen Ling frowned, refocusing his attention on everything happening in the hall.

Moments later, another “ding” from the system confirmed his suspicion.

He pondered, “The system wouldn’t give a hint for no reason—there must be a detail I’ve missed! Just like a game, when you find the right item or NPC, you can break through the level!”

“That’s it! If my restarted life is a game, there must be a key figure here to help me break the stalemate!”

With this realization, Chen Ling felt as if he’d grasped something intangible yet real.

He began to analyze everyone in his line of sight.

“A phone salesperson? No way—they’re all temps. The person who can help me must be on the official staff.”

“The window clerks? No, not high enough level.”

“The lobby manager? Still not right.”

“Or maybe… that guy?”

Chen Ling’s gaze quickly locked onto a man he’d seen twice—once coming down from the second floor, and again just now.

The man wore a suit but no work badge, looked about thirty, and unlike the standard-issue uniforms, his suit was clearly custom-tailored, fitting him perfectly and giving him an air of sharpness and sophistication.

Without hesitation, Chen Ling drifted over. With so many people in the hall, his actions weren’t conspicuous.

He followed the man to a father and daughter. Standing at a discreet distance, Chen Ling pretended to browse phones while eavesdropping.

“Director Liu, I didn’t expect you to come in person!” The man bowed slightly and shook hands with the father, his attitude very deferential. “For something like this, you could’ve just called. I’ll make sure your daughter gets the VIP treatment.”

From the address, it was clear the middle-aged man was someone important. But no matter how high your status, you can’t resist your child’s requests—especially a daughter’s.

He smiled warmly, his demeanor kind. “Sorry to trouble you, Xiao Li. It’s just buying a phone for my daughter. She wanted to go to another mall, saying that phones from the business hall come with lots of pre-installed apps and run slow. I don’t understand all that, so I brought her here first to have a look.”

“That’s easy to handle!” The man called Xiao Li gestured, and the lobby manager dropped what she was doing and hurried over. “Director Li, what do you need?”

“Call Xiao Wang. Once they pick a phone, have him come over and uninstall all the unnecessary apps.”

“Right away, sir.”

Just a few words, but it was service no ordinary customer could ever hope for—reinforcing the difference in status.

Soon, the lobby manager brought over Xiao Wang, the programmer. Now, with “Director Li,” three people hovered around the father and daughter, helping them choose a phone.

“Xinyue, which one do you want?” the father asked his daughter.

She wasn’t tall, but her features were delicate, her doll-like face especially cute—though she seemed in a poor mood, grumbling softly, “It’s just a phone, no need for all these people… Really! Ugh, whatever, that one in his hand is fine.” As she spoke, she pointed.

Everyone’s gaze followed her finger—to where Chen Ling was standing, awkwardly fiddling with a Nokia N96 display model.

He was instantly dumbstruck.

What on earth? Could it be that this “Sea God” template was this terrifying?